Inessentials: The Blog

Over this past weekend, Yale’s first (annual?) Environmental Film Festival ran. Although there were a number of films we wanted to see, we were only able to make it out on Sunday, when we saw Disneynature’s Earth and an independent production called Saving Luna.

Disneynature’s Earth (not to be confused with BBC’s Planet Earth, whose success it is clearly hoping to cash in on) contains some pretty interesting moments. Think of your favorite Discovery Channel or National Geographic special. Perhaps something with a cheetah in full stride or a baby kangaroo looking for its mother. Earth takes that to the proverbial eleven. It works on the thesis that if watching a great white shark jump out of the water in slow motion and catch a seal in its mouth is cool, seeing two of those in a row is twice as cool. Think a helicopter shot of going over a waterfall is cool? Then three of those in a row must be three times as cool. Think time-lapse shots of a plant growing is cool? Then eleven of those in a row must be eleven times as cool. (Eleven is not an exaggeration.) Disneynature’s Earth is essentially a YouTube video of Earth’s Greatest Hits. Of course, it’s only a greatest hits if you agree with the filmmakers that amphibians and insects are uninteresting and play no part in understanding our planet. Also, I found James Earl Jones’ narration fell flat. Made me wish for the British release with Patrick Stewart. (”Engage.”) The only emotionally engaging moment in the film is one where a polar bear, having been adrift on an ice flow, returns to land too exhausted to kill a walrus and too hungry not to try. For the first moment in the film, the predator-prey relationship becomes one where you want both sides to succeed. (In true Disney fashion, all bloody moments happen offscreen.) Moments that will make you “ooh” and “eww”? Got ‘em. A movie you will care about at all? Not unless you think global warming is conspiracy among scientists, journalists, and liberals to indoctrinate your children to become vegetarians and Gaia worshipers.

For a movie you will care about, try Saving Luna, a film lovingly made by journalists called to Alaska for a three week assignment on an orca whale separated from its pod. They stayed for three years documenting Luna, who apparently bonded with the a small fishing community in a sound that its pod doesn’t frequent. The story quickly evolves from “look at the killer whale coming to play” to a story of the struggle for the orca’s care among the townspeople, the loggers, the Canadian government, and the local First Nations tribe. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll question what you believe. The film provides a lot to think about, including our conceptions of wildness, friendship, and the differences and similarities between humans and other animals. I’d especially recommend it as a counterpoint to Wernor Herzog’s Grizzly Man. Both films engage the question of the wall the separates humans and wild animals, and whether this is a wall that should be maintained. Your assignment is to consider whether the positions advocated are compatible. That may be hard, since Saving Luna currently has no DVD release and it’s only been distributed in Canada, but watch the Saving Luna website for updates. You’ll be glad you did.